I picked this book up a couple of months ago from a British Library clearance sale. It looked like a promising read right from the start. Until the end, you really don’t know what will really happen. Since I just got back from tripping over France it had a special connection.

The story is about a biographer Mark and his journey of gathering facts, lies and silences on his muse. Saying anything more would land up just ruining the book. It has twists and turns while being so straightforward. At the end, you land up empathising, with both Mark and his muse. You understand their actions and why they did act in a certain way.

A good holiday read, According to Mark, can’t be dismissed as frivolous, but a light read for sure.

A fun book which gives us raw insights into the functioning of the Sri Lankan Elite through generations.

Regular life at the Villa has been intelligently weaved between political and natural upheavels in the area and have been told through the simple eyes of a family living through it all. The clash of thought between the young and the old, the fun aspects of their heritage and the serious issues of caste and marriage have been deftly dealt with in an almost charming manner.

However, this version of the book had names of the protagnists interchanged in various places making you stop and wonder what just happened. And that’s the sole reason for it losing one star.

That being said, I do look forward to reading the sequel which I just noticed – Turmoil at the Villa.